Scottish Executive

Cities

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the City of Edinburgh Council about joint working between the council and other local authorities in respect of the Cities Review.

Mr Andy Kerr: There was regular contact with the City of Edinburgh Council during the preparation of its city vision, including discussion on consultation with other councils. Now that the city vision has been approved that liaison will be maintained.

First Minister

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place for the First Minister to have regular audiences with Her Majesty The Queen and how frequently he meets Her Majesty to discuss Scottish Executive business.

Mr Jack McConnell: I have audiences with Her Majesty The Queen from time to time.

Fisheries

Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it is conducting into the spread of sea lice.

Allan Wilson: Current research includes work on the modelling of sea lice dispersion and on planktonic sea lice numbers in relation to the management of farmed fish. Fisheries Research Services also monitors the return rates of sea trout smolts from the Shieldaig River and supports Fisheries Trust biologists in sampling wild sea trout and monitoring sea lice abundance.

Forestry

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-652 by Allan Wilson on 18 June 2003, whether it will give details of all stakeholders involved in the development of the Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme.

Allan Wilson: The steering group was made up of representatives from Timber Growers Association (now called Forestry and Timber Association), Scottish Landowners Federation, National Farmers Union for Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Institute of Chartered Foresters, Scottish Crofting Foundation, Council of Scottish Local Authorities, Deer Commission for Scotland, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Scottish Environment Link, Forest Industries Development Council, Scottish Trade Union Congress, Forestry Commission and SEERAD.

  Further, during 2001 there was a public consultation on the review of the grants scheme with local seminars being held in Dumfries, Perth and Inverness. A total of 168 organisations and individuals responded to the consultation.

Graveyards

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it, or any non-departmental public body, has responsibility for any graveyard.

Mr Frank McAveety: Graveyards are the responsibility of local authorities and it is up to each local authority what provision it makes for graveyards within its area.

  Eighty-four properties in the care of Historic Scotland (an agency within the Scottish Executive) have burial grounds associated with them although their care and maintenance is the responsibility of local authorities. Many of them are scheduled ancient monuments and are not public cemeteries.

Graveyards

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions on the cataloguing, preservation, restoration and maintenance of gravestones and graveyards as part of its genealogy tourism strategy.

Mr Frank McAveety: VisitScotland recognise the importance of preserving historic graveyards and gravestones, since being able to see them is important for the many visitors interested in their Scottish ancestors. Historic Scotland publish a guide for practitioners on conservation of historic graveyards, covering technical conservation issues relating to graveyards such as advice on specialised repair and conservation techniques, and an inventory of Scottish sites.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to produce Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network guidelines regarding chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Malcolm Chisholm: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was covered in SIGN Guideline 59, Community Management of Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Adults, published in June 2002.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what methodology it uses to assess improvement in the people of Scotland’s health.

Mr Tom McCabe: There are many methods used to assess improvement in the people of Scotland’s health including:

  assessing and monitoring progress against national targets and indicators, including those set out in Improving Health In Scotland – The Challenge, Towards a Healthier Scotland and Our National Health;

  the Performance Assessment Framework introduced in November 2002 provides a tool to annually assess NHS boards’ performance in key priority areas in health improvement;

  assessing the results of national and local surveys, such as the Scottish Health Survey.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S1W-30227 by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 October 2002, whether Tayside NHS Board's confidentiality statement will be adopted by other NHS boards in order to enable funeral directors to be informed of bodies with infectious disease.

Mr Tom McCabe: I recently met representatives of the National Association of Funeral Directors when this issue was discussed. The matter is now being considered further in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive and other interests.

Hospital-Aquired Infection

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been (a) reported and (b) recorded in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001, (iii) 2002 and (iv) 2003, broken down by hospital; how many patients have had their stay in hospital extended owing to MRSA infection, and how much has been incurred by the NHS in extra costs arising from MRSA.

Malcolm Chisholm: Data are available on the rates of episodes of MRSA bacteraemia (blood poisoning) by NHS trusts to allow monitoring of trends in infection. The data were not collected before 2001 and the latest published results are set out in the table. Information for individual hospitals can be unreliable and misleading, or may be combined though use of a joint laboratory.

  MRSA Bacteraemia Rates by Acute Trust : Jan 2001 to Dec 2001 and Jan 2002 to Dec 2002

  


Trust Name 
  

Category 
  

MRSA per 1000 bed days
2001

MRSA per 1000 bed days
2002 
  



Shetland 
  

Island 
  

0.0000 
  

0.0000 
  



Western Isles 
  

Island 
  

0.0309 
  

0.0159 
  



Orkney 
  

Island 
  

0.0426 
  

0.0405 
  



West Lothian 
  

General Acute 
  

0.0703 
  

0.0537 
  



Yorkhill 
  

Specialist 
  

0.0000 
  

0.0613 
  



Argyll and Clyde 
  

General Acute 
  

0.0566 
  

0.0888 
  



South Glasgow 
  

Teaching 
  

0.0902 
  

0.0961 
  



Grampian 
  

Teaching 
  

0.1060 
  

0.1114 
  



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

General Acute 
  

0.1147 
  

0.1143 
  



Highland Acute 
  

General Acute 
  

0.0750 
  

0.1219 
  



Forth Valley 
  

General Acute 
  

0.1267 
  

0.1504 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

General Acute 
  

0.1127 
  

0.1551 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

General Acute 
  

0.1880 
  

0.1730 
  



North Glasgow 
  

Teaching 
  

0.1321 
  

0.1816 
  



Borders 
  

General Acute 
  

0.1765 
  

0.1999 
  



Tayside 
  

Teaching 
  

0.2217 
  

0.2191 
  



Fife 
  

General Acute 
  

0.2503 
  

0.2592 
  



Lothian 
  

Teaching 
  

0.3358 
  

0.3712 
  



  There is no routinely collected information for the effects of MRSA on costs or length of stay.

Hospital-Aquired Infection

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths from Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been recorded in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003, broken down by hospital.

Malcolm Chisholm: All information on cause of death collected when a death is registered is held on public registers. The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) collates this information and codes the cause of death data using the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases (ICD). There is not at present a specific ICD code for MRSA. It is therefore not possible to identify the numbers of deaths to which MRSA may have contributed.

Inter-Governmental Links

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken, or will take, to create inter-governmental links with (a) West Norden and (b) the Nordic Council and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive enjoys a wide range of links with the governments of West Norden and with the Nordic Council of Ministers, the forum for Nordic inter-governmental co-operation. These links form the basis of actual and potential mutually beneficial co-operation in a number of areas.

  The Scottish Executive intends to be represented at the North Atlantic Conference, organised by Shetland Islands Council in co-operation with the Nordic Council of Ministers, in Lerwick on 1-2 October. It will also be represented at a conference in Őrnskőldsvik, Sweden, to be held on 6 to 9 September under the auspices of the Nordic-Scottish Action Plan on regional development.

Marine Environment

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is taking to assess the potential environmental impact of the sinking of the cargo boat Jambo in the Minch.

Allan Wilson: Responsibility for responding to incidents such as the sinking of the Jambo  is reserved and rests with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which is co-ordinating the current salvage effort.

  The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and a number of other relevant organisations, is involved in an environment group which has been set up to monitor and advise on the situation in accordance with the National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations (a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre - Bib. Number 17730).

  The first priority was to identify the points of release, and stem the flow of, diesel oil leaking from the wreck and to undertake analysis of the cargo with a view to its removal as quickly as practicable. The MCA has advised that the recovery of the ship's diesel fuel bunkers and other pollutants was completed as far as practicable on 8 July. Salvage plans for the removal of the cargo have also been prepared and agreed. A number of strategies are also being considered to minimise the impact of any potential pollution on fish farms in the area.

National Health Service

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients resident in England were treated in NHS facilities in Scotland and paid for by English health authorities in each of the last four years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the actual number of English residents receiving treatment in NHS hospitals in Scotland is not available. The table shows the number of episodes of care English residents have received as outpatients, inpatients or day cases in NHSScotland facilities. A patient with more than one episode of care in any one year or across years will be counted each time he/she receives an episode of care.

  


Year ending 31 March 
  

Episodes of Care 
  



1999 
  

9,867 
  



2000p


9,196 
  



2001p


8,800 
  



2002p


8,939 
  



  Source: ISD Scotland, Scottish Morbidity Records (SMRs) 00, 01, 02, 04, 11 and 50.

  p Provisional

National Health Service

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients resident in Scotland were treated in NHS facilities in England and paid for by Scottish NHS boards and trusts in each of the last four years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the actual number of Scottish residents receiving treatment in NHS hospitals in England is not available. The table below gives the numbers of finished consultant episodes (FCE) Scottish residents have received in NHS facilities in England. An FCE is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider and one person might have several episodes within any one year or across years.

  


Year Ending 31 March 
  

Finished Consultant Episodes 
  



1999 
  

6,028 
  



2000 
  

5,700 
  



2001 
  

6,218 
  



2002 
  

6,049 
  



  Source: Hospital episodes Statistics (HES), Department of Health

Pharmacies

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in negotiating a new contract for a community pharmacy.

Mr Tom McCabe: My officials are meeting regularly with the Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council to negotiate a new community pharmacy contract. Positive progress is being made and announcements on the shape and content of the new contract will be made in due course.

Pharmacies

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend smoking cessation services to community pharmacies.

Mr Tom McCabe: The provision of smoking cessation services is a matter for individual health boards, and the Executive is aware that many boards already have Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Schemes in place. The Scottish Executive paper The Right Medicine: A Strategy for Pharmaceutical Services in Scotland , launched in February 2002, asks that community pharmacists role in smoking cessation is developed.

Pharmacies

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional services it is considering for inclusion in the new contract for a community pharmacy.

Mr Tom McCabe: Discussions on the new contract are currently ongoing with the Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council. Decisions on the content and range of services to be provided have yet to be made.

Pharmacies

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive when the trials of direct supply of pharmaceuticals to patients were concluded; what the outcomes of the trials were; what new trials of direct supply of pharmaceuticals to patients are taking place; when any such trials will conclude, and what plans there are to supply pharmaceuticals directly to patients across Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: Two pilot schemes for the direct supply of over-the-counter medicines to charge exempt patients were successfully completed last year. A detailed, independent evaluation was carried out and the research findings issued in March this year. The full evaluation report will be published in the near future. Roll- out of the direct supply scheme across the whole of the Ayrshire and Arran and Tayside Primary Care Trust areas is underway. Consideration is currently being given to when the scheme can be rolled out more widely.

Radioactive Waste

Campbell Martin (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is an acceptable solution for dealing with existing nuclear waste; if not, whether such a solution is likely to be found before commencement of the decommissioning process at the Hunterston nuclear power station in Ayrshire, and what the reasons are for the position on the matter.

Allan Wilson: The Executive's policy is that radioactive waste should be disposed of where a disposal route exists, and where no disposal route exists wastes should be safely stored.

  The Hunterston power station comprises Hunterston A, owned by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd, and Hunterston B, owned by British Energy. Hunterston A ceased power production in 1990 and is in the process of decommissioning and waste will be dealt with on the basis of the current policy. Hunterston B is still operating and no date has been set for decommissioning to commence.

Regeneration

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will give to ensure that the Clyde waterfront regeneration project meets its deadlines.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Clyde Waterfront Working Group, which was established in 2001 to explore the regeneration potential of the Clyde waterfront from Glasgow Green to Erskine Bridge, is expected to submit its report on the regeneration of the Clyde to me shortly.

  After this, ministers will need to consider the extent to which we will be able to take forward the different elements of the proposals.

Roads

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with Aberdeen City Council about improvements at the Haudagain roundabout and the Persley Bridge on the A90.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has ongoing discussions with Aberdeen City Council on a range of trunk road issues.

School Trips

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will recommend the appointment of outdoor education advisors in local authorities.

Peter Peacock: Guidance on health and safety on school trips is currently being reviewed. This review will include consideration of the question of the appointment of outdoor education advisers in local authorities.

School Trips

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will recommend the appointment of educational visit co-ordinators in schools.

Peter Peacock: Guidance on health and safety on school trips is currently being reviewed. This review will include consideration of the question of the appointment of educational visit co-ordinators in schools.

Young Offenders

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) capital cost and (b) annual operational cost (i) in total and (ii) per place will be of the 29 additional secure accommodation places referred to in its news release SEed228/2003 of 24 March 2003.

Cathy Jamieson: The capital costs will be around £45 million, which will cover both the development costs of the additional 29 places and the modernisation of 78 places. Current average weekly costs are around £3,000 for each child. Secure schools are responsible for managing their operational costs and setting their costs per place. The Executive has asked them to look to minimise their weekly costs while delivering a high level of care and education for the young people in their care.

Young Offenders

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times a secure place has not been found for a young offender under 16 after a court or children’s hearing has placed an order for a secure place in each of the last six years.

Cathy Jamieson: So far as those persons in respect of whom the Scottish ministers exercise discretion over the place and conditions of detention are concerned, there was one case in 2001 where the unavailability of a suitable place in secure accommodation led to the young person being detained initially in a penal establishment.

  Directors of social work decide whether a child should be placed in secure accommodation following a supervision requirement. Neither Scottish Children's Reporter administration nor local authorities categorise secure authorisations on offence or non-offence grounds.

  The Executive gave the Parliament's Audit Committee the information held centrally to support the case for an increase in secure accommodation on 27 June. This includes details of "unmet need for secure accommodation" identified by councils in 2001-02.